Federal Agency approves massive solar project in California's Mojave Desert

Rybold · Oct 11, 2010

Published Oct. 8, 2010

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has approved a giant solar power plant in California that will generate up to 370 megawatts of electricity and 1,100 new jobs.
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System will be the first large-scale solar energy project on U.S. public lands to use "power tower" technology, in which huge mirrors called heliostats focus sunlight onto a soaring tower to turn water into steam that can spin a turbine-generator to produce electricity.

The three big California solar projects combined would have the capacity at peak daylight times to produce as much as 1,124 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 337,000 to 843,000 homes.

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, renewable energy developers whose projects begin construction by the end of 2010 can apply for payments of up to 30 percent of the eligible costs of the project. Also under the Recovery Act, BrightSource has been awarded $1.37 billion in conditional loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy for the project.

The Ivanpah complex will include three solar thermal power plants, each with a 459-foot-tall power tower. Construction of all three phases is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.
The project's environmental reviews began with public scoping in November 2007, followed by a draft environment impact statement and public involvement in November 2009, and a supplemental draft environmental impact statement in April 2010. A final environmental report was issued in August 2010.

The Ivanpah project and its power towers will be the highest-visibility solar power plant in the United States, a short distance from heavily trafficked Interstate 15, used by tens of millions of travelers annually between the Los Angeles and San Diego areas and Las Vegas.

Electricity from the plant is to be sold to the nation's two largest single power companies: Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison, which together cover much of the state.
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Federal Agency Approves Ivanpah Solar Project in California's Mojave Desert

The license is the last step before BrightSource -- whose backers include BP Plc, Chevron Corp and venture capitalists Draper Fisher Jurvetson -- can begin construction of the plant, which should start producing energy at the end of 2012.

$1.7 billion-plus, 370-megawatt solar energy plant in Southern California
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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6964TE20101007

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FL_Prius_Driver · Oct 11, 2010

Time to get rolling.

Federal Agency approves massive solar project in California's Mojave Desert

Rybold globally warmed member

FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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Federal Agency approves massive solar project in California's Mojave Desert

Rybold globally warmed member

FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member